David Pogorelc

David Pogorelc has been in real estate for over 30 years. During this time he’s experienced the extreme undulations that best describe the Boston real estate market over the past three decades.

Before founding Core Investments, David was a founder and partner at Helm Investments, a real estate investment firm focusing on residential Boston properties. Prior to co-founding Helm, he was investing in undervalued real estate and enhancing and creating value through a variety of development projects. Over the past two decades, David has developed a significant contact base in the Boston market that has contributed to the success of Core and its partnerships.

Today in South Boston David is involved in transforming industrial parcels into an vibrant neighborhoods, office and retail space. In 2015 plans were filed with the Cit yof Boston. Some of the major facets of the space include:

A “transformative phased development” comprising eight new buildings across six blocks at the intersection of Dorchester Street and Old Colony Avenue

David graduated from Bryant University with a B.A. in Marketing and minor in Economics.

In August 2013 the Whitehouse ran a campaign that outlined now former President Obama’s plan of regular Americans realizing the dream of home ownership. In the post here http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/06/promoting-american-dream-homeownershipthe Whitehouse said “For years, owning a home was a symbol of responsibility and a source of security for millions of middle-class families across the country. But the financial crisis in 2008 put that all at risk, and by the time President Obama took office, the housing market was in free fall. Home values were plummeting and foreclosures were at record highs.”

David Pogorelc wholeheartedly agrees. “I hope President Trump will continue this by promoting good programs that make it affordable and cost-effective for more Americans to own their homes,” he says. “Together we can make American dream great again.”

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The following article appeared on The Real Reporter May 22, 2018 and was written by Joe Clements

BOSTON—No one talks about moving Fenway Park to South Boston anymore, but another Fens fixture could soon be arriving to the neighborhood, with market watchers claiming Samuels & Associates is angling to join Core Investments Inc. as developers of Washington Village, a $400 million mixed-use project near Andrews Square encompassing 656 residential units plus nearly 100,000 sf of retail and a public park. Core Investments founding principal David J. Pogorelc assembled the five-acre site comprising 235 Old Colony Ave. earlier this decade, and upon securing city backing began shopping for a joint venture partner through CBRE’s multifamily sales team.

CBRE Vice Chair Simon J. Butler would not discuss the evolving situation, even declining to say whether his multifamily team co-led by Vice Chair Biria St. John is playing a role in the process, an aspect others maintain is affirmative. While pricing parameters remain undefined, the parties “are way down the road” on cementing an agreement, according to a CRE professional familiar with the negotiations. “I think they have it,” volunteers a second CRE professional regarding Samuels & Associates, the veteran source among those anticipating Core Investments will retain a stake in the development. Samuels & Associates would likely be lead developer, according to sources, with the value equation further clouded by just how much of a piece Core is making available.

Steve Samuels, a third-generation developer who launched his namesake company in 1986, is already familiar with Andrews Square, having 25 years ago built the nearby South Bay Center in Dorchester, a pioneering urban mall on the other side of the Southeast Expressway. Its mixed-use project in Allston across from Harvard Stadium is a more recently completed Boston product of Samuels & Associates, but the firm’s signature accomplishment is in the Fens where hundreds of apartments and condominiums have been built in several high-rise towers along with extensive office and retail, the award-winning contributions dramatically improving the once-neglected district surrounding Fenway Park.

Pogorelc is another veteran investor active in metropolitan Boston for decades, his Core Investments possessing various urban holdings besides Washington Village. A call to Pogorelc’s Hub office was not returned by press deadline, while Samuels & Associates also did not respond to inquiries regarding market buzz circulating about the partnership bid.

Core Investments is already working on the Washington Village site, having begun demolition of existing facilities there last autumn. The firm has been pursuing its vision over the past five years, and observers report in-place permitting is providing a leg up on surrounding properties which are being listed now for similar purposes.

“Urban development is on fire right now,” relays one CRE broker whose firm is listing multiple sites across the city—including one in South Boston—and is a self-described “big fan” of Pogorelc for kick-starting the seemingly unfettered potential contained in a linear stretch along the MBTA Red Line from Broadway in South Boston to the UMass stop in Dorchester. “You are actually going to see a skyline (emerging) over there, and that will get people excited,” predicts the source. Washington Village calls for buildings of 18 and 22 stories along with smaller structures of three- to six stories, although even those will raise the profile of the area that is defined by low-rise industrial buildings and aging three-deckers.

Other aspects of Washington Village will be 110 affordable housing units and parking for 560 vehicles, both in short supply. The commercial footprint of 98,600 sf will foment a third element under-represented along Old Colony Avenue and other streets framing the ambitious project—streetscape retail. The 1.5-acre park is further expected to increase pedestrian traffic in and around Washington Village.

The above article is titled “Core Investments Eyeing Samuels to Partner on $400M Southie Plan via CBRE” and appeared in The Real Reporter on May 22, 2018 — Written By Joe Clements

Developer Dave Pogorelc sets his sights on transforming the area around Andrew Square.

Written by Tim Logan

For all the transformation that has come to South Boston over the last decade or so, the industrial streets around Andrew Square have stayed largely the same. That is about to change.

Developer Dave Pogorelc will break ground this fall on Washington Village, a nine-building, 656-unit pile of condos, apartments, and retail replacing 5 acres of old auto shops and commercial laundries between Old Colony and Dorchester avenues. It will be the biggest residential development to hit South Boston in the current boom — indeed, one of the largest residential projects in the entire city. And it’s aimed squarely at a slice of the market for which developers in Boston have struggled to build: the middle class.

Pogorelc picked up a big chunk of the site in foreclosure seven years ago, which helped to keep land costs down. He’s hoping the scale of his project will spread costs enough to keep units relatively affordable. And on top of the city’s usual 13 percent affordable-housing requirement, he’s setting aside 26 units at prices accessible to middle-income households.

Once Washington Village gets rolling, Pogorelc and his investors may turn to two more big chunks they own along Dorchester Avenue north of Andrew Square, land the city just rezoned to allow more tall and dense housing. That means he’ll likely be changing the neighborhood for a long time to come.

The following is a condensed article which appeared in full in Banker and Tradesman January 29, 2018 https://www.bankerandtradesman.com/clearing-way-new-village-andrew-square/